OmarComing25

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Oct 14, 2016 -> 12:26 AM) Dodgers have a solid bullpen, but Kershaw might not pitch till game 3. Could be huge break for the Cubs. I see no reason why Kershaw couldn't go Game 2 without issues, it's not like he threw 6 innings today.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 13, 2016 -> 11:44 PM) What's scary is that the Dodgers bullpen outside of Jansen is pretty barren. The Giants have a bunch of alright relievers and no great ones, but the Dodgers have one great one and a bunch of mediocre ones. First in ERA and third in WAR, it's a pretty good bullpen.

QUOTE (Footlongcomiskeydog @ Oct 12, 2016 -> 10:33 AM) Regular season stats mean very little right now. Hill looked like garbage a couple of games ago and I don't think he will fare much better this afternoon. It's the 4 postseason innings that mean nothing. Jansen getting hit means very little too. Do you think Anthony Rizzo is a concern after the terrible series he just had? That'd be silly.

My concern is that I'd take pretty much all the proposed packages in this thread without thinking twice, which makes me think Boston wouldn't do it. I think it would cap at something like Benintendi/Devers/Kopech/Swihart.

So the Nationals score a few runs off Hill and it suddenly erases what he's done all year? He's been the 2nd best pitcher this year next to Kershaw.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 7, 2016 -> 09:23 PM) Why's that? Concern I have is how awful they are against LHP Kershaw/Hill, Nationals are banged up, great bullpen.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 7, 2016 -> 09:21 PM) Since the thread is active, which team do you think matches up better with Cubs if they beat the Giants...LAD or Wash Definitely the Dodgers

Terrible baserunning by the Giants so far.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Oct 3, 2016 -> 01:38 PM) I forgot where I saw that the Mets have the best record since like August 12th, wouldn't it be better to ride the hot hand and hope the Mets can pull the upset? Not when Colon would be the Game 1 starter.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Oct 3, 2016 -> 12:26 PM) Now that it's official I really like the fact that the Sox have finally hired a guy who had managed before at the major league level. I think that's important. And he took a Cubs team that was trying to tank and they had a winning record after the All Star break if I remember correctly. What I don't like is that the Sox did not conduct a real search, it's clear they had already decided on Renteria weeks ago. Waiting a week or 10 days, you never know who might become available. I also think that even though he has only been there a short time, I don't like the fact that the Sox yet again, stayed in the "family"...no outsiders permitted. What they desperately need are outside viewpoints, fresh looks at the issues facing them. And of course will Renteria be allowed to pick his own coaches? Probably not all of them. We'll see what the off season brings. Overall I think Renteria is an improvement over Ventura but not as much as I was hoping for. Mark Again, how is Renteria "staying in the family", he's been here for months, not years.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 3, 2016 -> 11:53 AM) If it was that easy to be a closer, more than 2-3% of those former/failed starters could do it. Either all those MLB execs are wrong and emulating the Yankees or Royals is not possible as a blueprint, or high leverage situations are more difficult to pitch than innings 1-3. Let's not forget that those are close to max effort outings every time, especially when pitching 1 1/3rd+ innings. Of course, another problem is repeatability...and the fact that Britton coukd just as easily look like Jim Johnson as Davis/Betances next year. Or look at career years for guys like Thigpen or Willie Hernandez...other than Mo Rivera and Trevor Hoffman and maybe K Rod, few could it well for 10+ years without going off a Brad Lidge. It's also not taking into consideration the AL East had three playoff teams and a pretty decent Yankees team in the same division...it's not like he was rolling over the Twins, A's and Angels every time out. Over half of Britton's (relatively extremely light) workload came from facing the bottom third of the order, and that's without facing any 2nd or 3rd time through the order penalty that every starting pitcher does. I'd much rather face the 6-9 hitters from the Blue Jays or Red Sox than have to go through the entire lineups of the Twins, A's and Angels multiple times.

If the free agent pool was deeper, then there would be no question that they'd go for it again, but it's just so shallow that I'm currently sitting about 50/50 about whether they will sell off or not. Who would we even buy?

With all the chatter about Britton's Cy Young chances I thought this post from Reddit by user yesacabbagez summed it up perfectly why he shouldn't win:

A tiebreaker would have been cool, but I can't say I'm unhappy the Tigers didn't make it.

Hendricks might have cost himself the Cy Young with that first inning.

I really don't understand the view that Renteria is an in-house or organizational hire, he's been here for just a few months. He's not at all like the usual Sox manager hire.

If KW really does step down then the Shields trade immediately goes from awful to great.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Sep 30, 2016 -> 04:19 PM) Porcello makes his final start tonight. Could really use a nice RIGHT THERE FRED from Toronto to knock down that pretty ERA. Bill Burr fan?

Both Heyman and Rosenthal support Britton for Cy Young, but if they can justify Britton despite his lack of innings how do they both not vote for Kershaw in the NL?

@keithlaw Zach Britton faced Pillar, Barney, Navarro. This is another reason making a one-inning closer Cy Young is just silly. Turn a lineup over. Got to agree with Keith here, pitching only one inning at a time means closers often miss facing good hitters. Plus, a lot of the elite starting pitchers could at least come close to what Britton is doing but the reverse isn't true.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 28, 2016 -> 08:34 PM) Some great moves last season has really helped their pitching future. Fulmer is going to regress, Boyd is bad, and Zimmermann can't strike out anyone anymore, that deal isn't going to look good.

Despite this I will still be very surprised if he comes back, it doesn't make sense for so many reasons, and I'm in the camp that managers matter very little.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 28, 2016 -> 05:59 PM) So you don't think those who are torn on say Porcello and Kluber (2 I feel are likely to win) won't look at how each performed in the post season to make a decision? Of course they would. Isn't the voting done before the postseason begins?

I'll be very shocked if Britton wins it.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Sep 22, 2016 -> 10:43 PM) I think the problem with the offense is, as has been stated, striking out too much. This team does not seem to value not giving up outs. Not striking out means forcing the opposing defense to make a play to get an out. Considering that a given player's defensive value is typically increased by not screwing up, there is value to putting the ball in play. By striking out, an offense is limiting the amount of times that the opposing defense must make a play to record an out, thereby limiting the number of times they will screw up. Not striking out puts pressure on the other team and gives your offense more opportunities to score runs. This is a skill the White Sox should value more than they currently do, including teaching it throughout the system. The Sox are 18th in the MLB in K% this year and were 18th last year. They actually strike out less often than average, but that clearly hasn't helped. The bottom 5 walk rate they've had (haven't had a walk rate in the top 20 since 2009) is far more concerning.